Three Times A Baby

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)--Surprise, surprise, surprise. The sound of sheer joy and maybe even a little shock echoed through a local Cracker Barrel restaurant a few weeks ago as a family learned a very special and unexpected delivery was on the way.

The River City will soon be welcoming home what are sure to become local celebrities; they are the embryonic anomaly at the heart of a growing family.

Autumn Marie, Bristol Lynn and Carrington Joan Williams were born Tuesday at Huntsville Hospital and the special sisters have increased Decatur’s population by three.

At first, Katie Carter and Kyle Williams say they thought they were having a boy--one boy. But the new parents say it did not take long to realize something unique was happening.

"My tummy was here and then it seemed like the next day it was out to here,” gestures Mom Katie. “Yeah,” adds Dad, “Doctor McCain has been doing this long enough and he knew something was up within a week."

The Williams girls were born about five weeks premature so all are getting tender love and care in Huntsville Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. But doctors report the sisters are all healthy and growing. Doctor C. Lee McCain says the couple had a nearly one in ten-thousand chance of naturally conceived, identical triplets. Most triplets occur when the mother undergoes fertility treatments, he said. The girls ranged from four to nearly six pounds each and were all exactly eighteen inches long.

Even though the couple have been unable to actually hold their daughters yet, they say they cannot imagine their family any other way but five strong.

“It's just the thought of having just one baby is unreal now," smiled Carter, who is also recovering well from her surgery Tuesday.

Katie and Kyle say they have a wonderful support system. In fact, Katie says her mother has even quit her full-time job to focus in being a full-time grandmother.

Autumn, Bristol and Carrington Williams are expected to be released from the NICU on their original due date January 13, but doctors say with their vast improvements they could go home even sooner.